SPeekSunday - 2/23/14 - Mortal Illusions - When a kiss becomes an apology #SPeekSunday #Vampires #ParanormalRomance

For a vampire, love means watching someone you care about die.

Sneak Peek Sunday is a weekly excerpt hop where each author shares six paragraphs from a published work or a WIP (work in progress).

My submission for this week is from my 1st book, Mortal Illusions. A vampire romance published by New Concepts Publishing, Mortal Illusions is currently the first in a series of 3 books.  Its sequel, Fatal Desire, is currently under production.

In this excerpt, which is the beginning of the first chapter, Germaine St. Justine has sensed his former lover's pain and visits her in the hospital in an effort to ease her suffering.  After some gentle teasing combined with a soothing back rub, he gently bites her neck and draws out a few seconds worth of blood, then uses a hypodermic needle to withdraw blood from his arm.  Germaine adamantly refuses to make another vampire, but he doesn't want Marguerite to suffer.  Unfortunately, she wants more than he is willing to give her.

            A brief look of disappointment creased Marguerite's forehead.  Germaine presumed it was because he couldn't give her any details about the show when she said, "I don't think you know just how much I'd like to be able to go with you tomorrow night, André  . . . Sorry, Germaine."

            A tidal wave of regret washed over Germaine as he recalled how she'd urged him to do this musical nearly twenty years ago, when he'd started investing in Broadway productions again.  But he couldn't grant her wish, no matter how deeply it hurt him to deny her.  Feeling his conscience war with his guilt, he said teasingly, "If you continue to call me André, your family will begin to doubt your sanity.  André would have to be about fifty-five now I think."

            "Fifty-three, the same age as me, but who's counting?"  She glanced down at his strong hand that remained, like the rest of him, at the permanent age of thirty.  She had been that young when they parted.  "I'm dying, André," she admitted, her fingers gripping his in an unspoken plea.  "We both knew this time would come eventually, but I'm not ready for it--not now, not yet."

            "Marguerite--"

            "Don't.  There's nothing you can say.  There is something you could do--only you, damn your golden eyes, refuse to do it."  She blinked back her tears.  "Not all of us have eternity to live out our lives, André.  And some of us feel cheated when our time is cut short."

            "Don't do this, Magpie," he pleaded, gathering her into his arms.  "Don't cry."  Then, before she could say more, he kissed her deeply, much in the same way he used to kiss her twenty-three years ago.  For him, the time span was no longer than an eye blink, and her impassioned response made it seem even shorter.  They were both so engrossed in the moment that neither cared nor drew apart when the door opened.  At the sound of an enraged gasp, however, Germaine started to tactfully withdraw when a furious female verbally accosted him.

Marguerite knows her former lover won't go against his principles, but she has personal reasons for asking him about the show he's producing.

M/F, Contemporary vampire romance in a society based on D/s.

Read the first three chapters at: Mortal Illusions

Buy the book at NCP, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or ARe

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you enjoyed this brief excerpt and want more. Please click the link below to continue your hop Sneak Peek Sunday Wishing you a wonderful journey.